


Maybe Today (Tomorrow) is the Day

by solemnwar



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Awkward First Times, F/M, First Time, Loss of Virginity, rose is tsundere and makes everything worse, someone take the keyboard away from my sinful hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 11:21:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14055864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solemnwar/pseuds/solemnwar
Summary: Alizarin Rose has recently come to the realisation that she has the ability to choose who to spend her first time with, and she wants it to be with Andronikos.Now, if only they could get along for more than five minutes...





	Maybe Today (Tomorrow) is the Day

            Today was the day. Sure, she’d been saying that for several weeks now, but she was _serious_ this time.

            Maybe.

            Alizarin Rose sighed as she rested her head on her knees, muttering to herself the Sith Code in an effort to possibly get some courage from it. According to the small timer on her computer, it was about noon (Dromund Kaas time), although time was somewhat meaningless in space. Regardless, it was time to be up and having lunch, but here she was barely dressed and her hair was a mess.

_Maybe tomorrow will be the day_ , she thought, ruffling her hands through her hair, which did not do it any favours. _How does one even approach the subject of sex anyways?_

            Anything to do with the opposite sex in a romantic or sexual capacity had Rose stumped, having grown up a special kind of sheltered. Purebloods such as herself were rare, and rarer still were ones stuck in slavery, subject to the whims of those who owned them. Her masters had planned to sell her virginity off to the highest bidder, and then sell her off to whichever pureblood wanted to use her as a broodmare. As a result, she’d had limited interactions with men, and hadn’t really bothered to learn to socialise because...

            Well, it hadn’t mattered, had it?

            And until recently, she’d continued with that mindset. Habit was hard to break, and without realising it she’d continued to cover herself up, keep her eyes averted, and make sure a woman was around whenever she could, unconsciously seeking a “chaperone”. And then she’d come to the sudden realisation (over breakfast, incidentally) that she actually could _choose_ now, whether to stay chaste, or not. And not only that, but she could choose with _who._

            Such a radically altered view of her life led to a time of eating _all_ of the chocolate on the ship, because she couldn’t quite process this life-changing epiphany, and then Andronikos had made fun of her for the chocolate binge, and then she’d had her _second_ epiphany that she really wanted to sleep with _him._

            Clearly, her standards were slipping in an environment bereft of rigid control and observation.

            And thus came the difficulty of broaching the subject. She didn’t want to come off as too easy, after all. He might take the _once in a lifetime chance_ for granted. She also couldn’t be too coy, because he could be a bit obtuse.

            Also, she might have been a bit nervous. Just a bit. It wasn’t like she was afraid of unknown territory or anything. She’d done a holonet search. She _knew_ what was going on under the clothes! She’d even watched one of those videos where people took all their clothes off and had sex with each other. The first three minutes, anyways. And then she’d turned off the computer in sheer embarrassment.

            With a slight groan she let herself fall sideways onto the plush blankets that covered her bed. _At least it would be comfy? Or... would it happen on..._ his _bed..?_

            She smothered her face with a pillow, embarrassed just thinking about it. _This is stupid, you don’t even know if he thinks of you that way!_ She was well aware that he thought of her as a brat, and spoiled. She was less certain of any attraction he might have. She _thought_ she’d seen him checking her out from time to time, but that might have been her own ego misinterpreting things.

            Deciding that sitting around lettering her brain run in circles was a far too unproductive waste of time, Rose dragged herself out of bed and darted into the shower to begin the hour-long ritual of sorting out her long, luxurious red locks.

            When she’d been a slave, it had been a far easier task. As it was important for her to look presentable, her masters had other slaves expedite the process so that she could be sooner displayed to potential buyers. She hadn’t been particularly well-liked by the other slaves, but it took only _one_ incident involving scissors and a liberal application of them to her hair for the other slaves to understand how badly the masters would come down on them if they touched her in any way they didn’t like.

            So, instead, they just didn’t talk to her. Came in, dolled her up, left. _In hindsight, I guess I was pretty lonely_ , she mused as she combed her hair. _And now I have_ three _people I talk to on a regular basis. Well, four, if you count Zash..._

            A loud pounding on the door took her out of her thoughts. “Oi, Sith, are you _still_ in there?” came the pirate’s rough voice. “You’re gonna look like a shrivelled prune, yanno.”

            She glared at the door. “I’ve only _just_ got up,” she haughtily retorted. “I’ve _only_ been in her for _twenty five minutes_.”

            He said some words not fit for a lady’s ears, and then his footsteps retreated away from the door. _Well, I suppose that’s as good a sign as any that this conversation isn’t happening today_ , she sulked, resuming her maintenance. _You should probably look elsewhere, Rose; maybe someone closer in age to you, perhaps? Surely there’s a number of eligible Sith Lords who would jump at the chance to be your paramour... although that number might be a bit low, because of Thanaton._

            Once she’d finished untangling the knots in her waist-length hair she set about the rest of her beauty regimen, which took another half hour of time before she was satisfied with it. Examining the results in the mirror, she smiled slightly at the result. _Who cares if Andronikos doesn’t find me attractive? He’s obviously wrong if he doesn’t. I’m_ gorgeous _and he’s missing out._

            She couldn’t help but touch her fingers to her right cheek, feeling smooth skin where once there was a scar. It had been more of a _brand_ , put there by her masters when she was a child, and once she’d had the means she’d had it removed. The surgery had cost a lot, but the peace of mind it had brought was worth twice that cost. With the scar gone, she had finally felt like she was free, that her past was behind her.

            Plus, she looked _so much better_ without the scar tissue messing her face up.

            She added some final touches to her makeup, darkening her eyelids to further make her red eyes stand out from skin that was also quite red, then unlocked the door to start her quest for some lunch.

            “Finally,” grumbled Andronikos, setting down his holopad. “What do you _do_ in there? Summon ghosts to do your makeup for you?”

            “I don’t expect you to understand, pirate,” she said imperiously, fluffing her hair over her shoulders. “You are a slob, and therefore cannot conceive of the effort it takes to raise yourself from being merely _beautiful_ to being a _goddess._ ”

            “Hey, who you callin’ a slob? _I’m_ not the one who leaves their dishes out for others to clean up.”

            “He has a point, master,” said Ashara, poking her head out from the engine room. “We all share this space, and so we all must play a part in keeping it clean.”

            “I’ll start cleaning up once you freeloaders contribute to finances,” she replied acidly. “Or do you think money forms from the aether and is hand-delivered by the Force?”

            “I’m the one who _tracks_ your finances,” said Andronikos, gesturing at the holopad. “It’s a miracle we _have_ any credits with the amount you spend.”

            “Hmph. I have to look good, or else no one will take me seriously.”

            “Well you’re gonna have to try harder, then, because _I_ can’t take you seriously and I’ve _seen_ the crap you can pull.”

            Rose stared at him, feeling an embarrassed heat creeping up her face. “Well _who_ even _asked_ for your _opinion_ anyways?” she snapped, turned sharply on her heel and stomping back to her room, ignoring her empty stomach in favour of pique. And then, because the door sliding closed wasn’t as satisfying as a door that she could slam shut, she gave it a kick for good measure before flopping down on the bed.

_Well, I think that’s a new record for getting mad at Andronikos,_ she thought to herself. _Maybe ‘tomorrow’ is too soon on the timetable... or ever._

 

 

 

            Andronikos stared at the door, brows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and concern. “ _Now_ what did I do?”

            “You know how vain she is,” said Ashara, putting a hand to her head. “You basically just told her she wasn’t pretty.”

            “I said that I can’t take her _seriously,_ not that she wasn’t pretty.” _And I ain’t gonna clarify on that, either._ “What does she even care about my opinion?”

            “Usually people care about the opinions of people they like,” said Ashara with a shrug. “I would have thought you’d know that much.”

            Andronikos stared at her blankly.

            “What? You didn’t know?”

            “All she does is insult me, how do you get the idea she’s into me?” he scoffed, shaking his head as he picked up his holopad.

            “I think she was never socialised properly,” came Zash’s voice, an odd sound coming from the brutish-looking Dashade that she was forced to inhabit with, but like all the other oddities they were encountering, they were becoming used to it. “She’s mean to everyone, obviously, but she’s _much_ nastier to you, and I think it’s because she’s not sure how to convey her emotions, and that frustrates her.”

            “Or, and here’s a crazy idea that I’m just throwing out there, she’s extra mean to me because she looks down on me and doesn’t like me very much,” said Andronikos.

            “If that were the case, she wouldn’t bring you with her all the time,” Ashara pointed out.

            “Or have thrown you off the ship entirely,” added Zash.

            “Huhn.”

            “The girl has such poor taste,” said Zash critically, shaking her head. “Sure, her pool of potential suitors is limited because of Thanaton, but I’m sure she could get someone better than _you_ in a heartbeat.”

            “Thanks,” muttered Andronikos, making his way back to the cockpit. “This place really knows how to make a fella feel welcome.”

            “ _You_ could also leave any time you wanted,” Ashara said as he passed by her. “If you’re so unhappy, why are you still here?”

            “Never said I was unhappy.”

            “Well if this is you being _happy_ I’d hate to see you _upset_ ,” she said. “You could easily pilot whatever ship you wanted, with company you liked _better_ , and I’m sure the novelty of travelling with a Sith has worn off, so why stick around?”

            “Make your point, Ashara, or stop wasting my time.”

            Ashara sighed. _And the Masters kept saying that_ I _had no patience!_  “My point is that I think that you like Rose, too,” she said. “You two should sit down and work your feelings out. It would make the atmosphere a lot more relaxed, for one thing...”

            “Look, Ashara, _liking_ someone is a lot different from _wanting to be in a relationship_ , and I don’t want that.” He grimaced. “Plus, isn’t Rose only... what, 16? That’s... I’m a lot of things, but I ain’t willing to go _that_ far.”

            “She’s 19, Andronikos.”

            He looked in the direction of Rose’s room. “Are you _sure?_ Cuz she acts more like she’s _14 years old_.”

            Ashara couldn’t stop the smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. “She is a bit... childish, yes,” she conceded. “Well, if you’re uninterested, you should probably tell her that. She’ll sulk, but she’ll get over it.”

            “Can I pilot the ship now? Or do you _want_ us to run into every piece of space debris from here to Hoth?”

            Ashara shook her head, giving up, and walked back to the engine room. Andronikos continued his trek to the cockpit, dropping himself into the pilot chair and set about course correcting. _One day, I’m going to convince Rose to get the computer on this thing fixed. Course, then I’d possibly be out of a job._

            It was an easy task, so he let his mind wander back to the earlier conversation. While he wasn’t entirely certain he could trust the judgement of a former Jedi Padawan — an order that openly denounced personal attachments — and a crazy Sith Lord inhabiting the body of a force-eating monster, what they’d said about Rose wasn’t exactly coming from nowhere. The tiny red Sith did seem to spend an awful lot of time with him, and aside from that one time she shocked him with lightning on Tatooine at the start of their working relationship she hadn’t treated him badly.

_She never did apologise for that._ He leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand over the top of his head. She was, admittedly, attractive, and when she wasn’t being a spoiled brat he admired her temerity and lack of deference to authority figures. She was also a _lot_ smarter than she let on, even if her formal education was sorely lacking in several areas (mainly, _all of them_ ). She was making steady progress in catching up on what she was missing, and even more important than book smarts, she was a pretty good judge of character, and able to suss out people’s underlying motives fairly quickly.

            But did he _really_ want to get that involved with her? He was pretty sure she’d never been with anyone, if her off-hand comments about being incredibly sheltered were accurate, and as much of an unrepentant lech as he was, he wasn’t keen on the idea of being the first guy she slept with. _She deserves a lot better than a pirate with no future._

            The skeevier part of him told him to throw caution to the wind and just go with it. Bed her, get it out of both their systems, move on. If she wanted to sleep with him, who was he to say no? Wouldn’t even have to deal with any of the fallout from that — he could quickly get any number of pirate gigs right after. Not his problem.

_Ugh, I feel terrible just thinking that_. Truth of the matter was that he _did_ like her, despite her insistence on being regularly awful to him. She was strong and sarcastic, things he liked in women, and he’d seen her half-naked once.

            She was hiding some nice curves under the three hundred layers of clothes she wore.

            He groaned, sinking down into the chair as he felt the familiar taughtening in his pants. _Well, there goes getting anything meaningful done..._ He _briefly_ entertained the thought of visiting Rose and getting all the questions answered _now_ , but he’d rather not make such important decisions when he was horny as hell.

            Plus, it was a small ship, and Ashara and Zash were still on it.

_Take care of_ this _business privately, and talk to Rose tomorrow._ Course of action settled, he finished the last of the recalibrations to their flight path before heading to the bathroom to take care of things.

**Author's Note:**

> Who else just wants Ashara to grab the two by their collars and lock them in a room until they either fuck or kill each other?
> 
> "Sol, you better not leave us hanging for three hundred years for the next chapter like you do with every single one of your other multi-part fics."
> 
> Haha... ha... ha... >>;


End file.
